Retired 11th Chancery District Judge Ray H. Montgomery has been chosen to hear arguments in the renewed lawsuit between Warren County and three landowner groups over how long the Kings Point Ferry should operate.

Montgomery was chosen by Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice William Waller after all three sitting chancellors in the Delta-based 9th District recused themselves from the case.

M&M Property LP, along with Paradise Point Hunting Club and Louisiana-based Riverland Plantation seek monetary damages from the county to pay for flood damage they say was caused by the ferry running 12-hour days instead of the 15 1/2 hours on which parties settled after a 1997 lawsuit.

The county has contended staffing and budget shortfalls have forced them to employ two Coast Guard-certified pilots instead of three.

State law allows the chief justice to appoint a special judge in such cases, with the advice and consent of a majority of the state’s high court.